10 Surprising Ways Losing Weight Improves Your Life

Taking off extra pounds benefits your body—and your wallet!

So you're ready to take off the pounds. You probably can already list at least one reason why. Perhaps you want to look great for a reunion, or you want to get healthy so you'll have more energy for your kids.

To strengthen your resolve as you lose weight—and, more important, as you maintain the weight loss—write that reason along with those listed below on a piece of paper and tape it to your refrigerator door. Whenever you have an urge to eat straight from the gallon container of ice cream, your list will give you the strength to close the freezer door and head outside for a walk instead.

Put these 10 tips into practice to help you beat the battle of the bulge.

1. You'll improve your memoryIn a study conducted in Sweden, researchers used CAT scans to measure brain size in 290 women in their 70s. They discovered that those whose temporal lobe was small (indicating shrinkage) had been overweight (BMI 25 and over) throughout adulthood; women whose brains had a healthy cell count in this area had maintained a healthy weight (BMI less than 25).

2. You'll save $825 or more a yearResearch shows that you only need to lose 5% of your weight (9 pounds for a 185-pound person) to save that much money in medical expenses in 1 year. The Kaiser Permanente Northwest Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon performed the research over four years and found that found that the regional health plan saved nearly $850 overall in per-person medical costs the year after an overweight member lost 5% or more body weight in a voluntary program. The researchers calculated that the health plan would save $2,500 over five years, and observed that the savings would be real, even in view of the observation that most patients would regain the weight lost.

3. You'll find it easier to carry the groceriesWhen Wake Forest University researchers measured waist-to-hip ratios of 9,400 middle-aged people, they found that those with spare tires were up to 57% more likely to have diminished muscle strength and exercise capacity.[pagebreak]

4. You'll help your heartRisk of a ballooning heart wall and related irregular beats is 50% higher in obese people compared with those at a normal, healthy weight. Obesity may cause the heart's upper left chamber, the atrium, to stretch out and develop an overly rapid beat that's out of sync with the rest of the heart. The condition, called atrial fibrillation, raises stroke risk by four times and doubles the risk of death.

5. You'll prevent cancerStudies show that being overweight triggers high levels of the hormones leptin and estrogen hormones that can spur explosive growth in abnormal cells and set the stage for tumors. Losing weight produces the opposite effect, protecting you from a number of different types of cancers. Overweight women who lost 20 or more pounds cut breast cancer risk by 21%, according to University of Minnesota research that tracked nearly 22,000 women for 7 years.

6. You'll save your kneesCenters for Disease Control and Prevention research on osteoarthritis (OA)—the wear and tear kind that can start in your 40s—found that each pound above a healthy weight increases risk of OA by 10 to 15% in women and 5 to 10% in men.

7. You'll breathe easierIn a University of Ottawa study of 50 obese women, each 10% of body weight lost resulted in a 5% boost in lung function. Women who lost 25% of their weight boosted breathing power by 10%. Carrying lots of extra weight taxes breathing muscles, making them work harder and less effectively.

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8. You'll open your blood vesselsResearchers found that signs of artery damage were reduced when people who were at least 30 to 40 pounds overweight dropped 7% of their weight.

9. You'll conceive more easilyObesity causes hormonal imbalances that make it harder to conceive and carry to term, even with in vitro fertilization (IVF), explains infertility researcher Paul Miller, MD. In a South Carolina study of 372 women undergoing IVF, those who were obese were 32% less likely to get pregnant than were women at healthy weights.

In a study of 6,123 IVF patients, London researchers found that those who were obese had a 43% higher miscarriage rate than their healthy-weight counterparts. Losing just 5% of your body weight before trying IVF can significantly improve your chances of getting pregnant.

10. You'll deliver that baby fasterLabor lasted almost 2 hours longer for obese than for normal-weight women in a University of North Carolina study of 612 women. Overweight and obesity raised C-section rates to 10.4% and 13.8% respectively, compared with 7.7% for normal-weight women, in a study of 12,300 women at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.